When Brothers Forgive Genesis 50:15–21

Today we’re going to talk about how good it is when brothers forgive.

One of the great stories of the Bible is the life Joseph; it’s a story of jealousy and hatred, by even more so, of forgiveness and reconciliation. It’s also a story of how God kept intact the family line through which the Messiah would be born. So in reconciling Joseph and his brothers, God was working out his plan of salvation for the world.

So as a practical matter, it’s a good thing for us that Joseph and his brothers were reconciled. Not only does it give us an example to follow, it also worked out for our salvation.

Joseph’s father, Jacob, was a man of many: Jacob had many animals, many servants, many children, and two wives, which is one too many.

Jacob loved one of his wives, Rachel, but didn’t love the other, Leah. And he favored his sons by Rachel above the others, especially Joseph. Needless to say, that favoritism caused some serious problems in the family.

Joseph, was a very capable and gifted young man; and very confident, perhaps even arrogant.

Joseph had the gift of dreams, dreams from God as prophesies of what would happen. He had a dream of 11 sheaves or bundles of barley, bowing down to one great sheave; and another dream of 11 stars bowing to him.

He shared those dreams with his 11 brothers, and they understood that the dreams meant that Joseph would rule over them someday. They weren’t too keen on that. So they decided they would kill him. Then he could never rule over them.

The oldest of them, Rueben, still had enough love left to try to save his little brother.  So he convinced the others not to kill Joseph. Instead they decided to make some money off from him, and they sold him as a slave to Egypt.

God was with Joseph in that far away land, literally making his dreams come true. Eventually he went from slave to master, prime minister of Egypt.

When a severe famine struck the land, Jacob’s sons traveled to Egypt, where it was rumored that there was food to buy. But Jacob wouldn’t allow his youngest son, Benjamin, the only one he had left from his favorite wife, Rachel, to go along with them, because he didn’t want to risk losing him.

When they got to Egypt, Joseph recognized his brothers, even after all those years; but they didn’t recognize him because he looked like an Egyptian.

To see if their hearts were still evil, Joseph tested them. He told them to go back home and bring their youngest brother back with them. And he kept Simeon as a sort of hostage.

When they got home they discovered that someone had put the silver they had paid for the food, back in their sacks. Now they could have kept the money and left Simeon to die alone in Egypt, but they were changed men. They weren’t about to abandon Simeon like they had Joseph. So they convinced Jacob to allow Benjamin to go back to Egypt with them.

When Joseph saw them again, and realized that they cared enough for their brother to come back for him, Joseph’s heart was touched. But he had one last test for them. He sent them all back home with food, but planted his silver cup in Benjamin‘s sack. Then he sent his servant after them.

His servant caught up with them and brought them back to Joseph. Joseph told them they could all go home, except for Benjamin, who would have to stay and be his slave.      

Judah, on behalf of the brothers, pleaded with Joseph. He said, “It’ll kill our father if his youngest son doesn’t come back home.”.

They had hurt their father so badly when they took Joseph away from him all those years ago, and they weren’t about hurt him again by having Benjamin taken from him. And they were watching out for their youngest brother, like they hadn’t watched out for Joseph. Again, they were changed people.

At this point Joseph couldn’t hold back anymore; he revealed himself to them, and they were mortified.

They must have feared that he would punish them severely. But instead he forgave them, which he had done long before in his heart. He moved them all to Egypt, and took care of them and their families. They had failed to take care of him years before, but from that point on, he took care of them. That’s what forgiveness can do when it comes from the heart.

This arrangement continued until Jacob died. Joseph’s brothers feared that he was doing this just for the sake of their father, but hadn’t really forgiven them in his heart. So they sent word that before he died, Jacob had told them that Joseph should forgive his brothers.

Joseph wept when he heard them say that. He had never intended to hurt them. He said, “Am I in place of God? What you did, you meant for evil, but God meant it for good… Fear not, I will take care of you and your little ones.”.

Joseph had truly forgiven them from his heart, not for the sake of his earthly father, but for the sake of His Heavenly Father, who had forgiven and rescued him.

Jesus teaches forgiveness from the heart in today’s Gospel with the parable of the wicked servant, who refused to forgive the debts of his debtors, even though the king had forgiven his debts.

When the king heard about this he had the unforgiving servant thrown into prison. Jesus said, So my heavenly father will do to every one of you if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.

How good it is when brothers forgive. How sad it is when brothers fight instead. Psalm 128 says How good it is when brothers live together in unity.

We have a brother in Baptism, a brother who is our Savior, whose heart was set on forgiving us, and so our Brother, Jesus, gave his life for us. Because our Brother gave his life for us, our lives belong to Him.

Our Epistle says, ⁷ For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. ⁸ For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's.

We live so that we might forgive, as he forgives us.

Not forgiving is not an option for forgiven people. When we hold a grudge we’re letting go of the forgiveness Christ won for us. That’s something we need to always hold on to.

In our Brother and Savior, we not only have forgiveness to save us, we also have a helper for that essential task of forgiving our brother and our sister.

In our restored relationship with Christ, we have a source of love to restore our relationships with our brothers and sisters, and neighbors, and fellow human beings.

How much better it is when brothers forgive, than when brothers are jealous, or when hate, or when brothers get even, or when they avoid one another, or secretly rout against each other.

How much better when they rejoice together when something good happens to one of them; how much better when they embrace one another, and years of bitterness melt away; how much better when brothers and sisters watch out for one another, and look after each other; how good it is when brothers can depend on one another at all times.

We have a God we can always depend on; may he help us to be dependable to each other. As Joseph told his brothers they had nothing to fear from him, so may God help us to love each other and live in such a way, that we have nothing to fear from one another.

How good it is when brothers and sisters in Christ live together in peace.

And as we do, the peace of God, which passes understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord and our true Brother. Amen.